WASHINGTON 鈥斅燱hen the company you just bought is the subject of a 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� parody, you know it鈥檚 time for a change.
That鈥檚 what Doug Ewert, the CEO of Men鈥檚 Wearhouse, which bought men鈥檚 apparel chain Jos. A. Bank last year, tells The Washington Post he thought after a skit on the last year skewering the latter chain鈥檚 trademark 鈥渂uy one, get three free鈥� sales.
Cast member Vanessa Bayer portrayed a mom who claimed that her favorite cleanup tool was suits from Jos. A. Bank. 鈥淲ith their innovative 鈥榖uy one, get three free鈥� pricing, a suit from Jos. A. Bank is effectively cheaper than paper towels,鈥� Bayer said, wiping up an orange juice spill with a suit coat.
鈥淲ith four suits for the price of a modest dinner, I can feel good about throwing them away when I鈥檓 done.鈥�
鈥淲hen 鈥楽aturday Night Live鈥� parodies your pricing promotions, you know you have a problem,鈥� Ewert tells The Post. 鈥淚t stung.鈥�
So this weekend is your last chance to get 鈥� though, if the numbers are to be believed, not many people will flock to the stores to take advantage: Jos. A. Bank sales in stores that had been open more than a year were down 9.4 percent in the second quarter of this year, The Post reports.
鈥淭hey were hurting their own margins and they were hurting their own credibility鈥� with such low prices, Richard Jaffe, a research analyst with Stifel, tells The Post.
From now on, Ewert says, Jos. A. Bank sales will be more along the lines of, say, 鈥渙ne suit for $299, two for $500.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to flip the promotional messaging to talk about what they鈥檙e going to pay instead of what they鈥檙e going to save,鈥� Ewert tells The Post.
